City Traders Imperium vs FTMO: which prop firm is better in 2026?
On the 33 criteria we compare, FTMO comes out ahead (8 against 6). City Traders Imperium remains the cheaper way in and it pays out a larger share of profits, so the choice is not automatic.
City Traders Imperium
Forex / CFD · Trustpilot 4.2/5
City Traders Imperium has funded forex traders since 2018 through four routes — 1-Step, 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding — with no time limit and entry from $29. The profit split starts at 80% and can reach 100%, but the 1-Step allows only 5% trailing drawdown and every trade must carry a stop loss.
Criteria won : 6 / 33
FTMO
Forex / CFD · Crypto · Stocks · Trustpilot 4.8/5
Founded in Prague in 2015, FTMO reports more than $450 million paid to traders and closed its acquisition of broker OANDA in December 2025. The 2-Step challenge, static drawdown and no deadline, remains its core product, with fees fully refunded on the first payout. Price is the weak spot, and it rose again in 2026.
Criteria won : 8 / 33
Pricing at equal account size
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
City Traders Imperium
$449
FTMO
€499
Full comparison
| Criterion | City Traders Imperium | FTMO |
|---|---|---|
| Trust | ||
| Score | 83/100 | 88/100 ✓ |
| Trustpilot | 4.2/5 | 4.8/5 ✓ |
| Founded | 2018 | 2015 ✓ |
| Headquarters | GB | CZ |
| Pricing | ||
| Entry price | $29 ✓ | €79 |
| Price for a 100 K account | $449 ✓ | €499 |
| Refundable fee | — | Yes |
| Reset price | — | — |
| Account sizes | 100 K | 200 K ✓ |
| Rules | ||
| Steps | Instant funding ✓ | 1 |
| Profit target | — | 10 % |
| Max daily loss | — | 3 % |
| Max total drawdown | 6 % | 10 % ✓ |
| Drawdown type | Trailing intraday | Static ✓ |
| Time limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rule | No ✓ | 50 |
| Min trading days | 5 | — |
| Payouts | ||
| Profit split | 80 % | 80 % |
| Max profit split | 100 % ✓ | 90 % |
| First payout | 7 days ✓ | 14 days |
| Payout frequency | Mensuel au niveau 1, bi-mensuel au niveau 2, hebdomadaire au niveau 3 ; premier retrait possible apres 7 jours | A la demande a partir du 14e jour suivant le premier trade, puis tous les 14 jours |
| Payout methods | — | — |
| Scaling plan | Yes | Yes |
| Max allocation | 2 M | 2 M |
| Trading | ||
| Platforms and instruments | mt5, match-trader | mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview ✓ |
| Instruments | fx, indices, metals, energy, stocks | fx, indices, metals, energy, crypto, stocks ✓ |
| Leverage | 1:30 forex et indices sur le 2-Step, 1:20 sur l'Instant Funding, 1:10 indices et matieres premieres, 1:2 crypto | 1:100 (forex) |
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | Yes | Yes |
| Expert Advisors | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | Restricted | Restricted |
| Scalping | Yes | Yes |
| Hedging | — | Yes |
Choose City Traders Imperium if…
- Cash flow matters to you: the first withdrawal comes after 7 days rather than 14.
- Your results concentrate on a few strong sessions: no consistency rule caps a single day's share of total profit.
- You would rather skip the evaluation entirely and start on a funded account.
- You need a platform FTMO does not offer: match-trader.
Choose FTMO if…
- You need a platform City Traders Imperium does not offer: mt4, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview.
- You want a drawdown you can compute in your head: the limit is fixed on the starting balance and never moves as the account grows.
Our analysis
Tooling differences
City Traders Imperium is the only one of the two to offer match-trader. FTMO covers mt4, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview, which its rival does not. Platform choice is not cosmetic: order execution, available order types and the reliability of your automation all depend on it, and switching mid-evaluation is rarely possible.
How much history each firm has
FTMO has been running since 2015, 3 years longer than City Traders Imperium. On Trustpilot they sit at 4.2/5 and 4.8/5 respectively. Our trust pillar scores them 85/100 and 97/100, which weighs age, corporate transparency and public payout evidence. In an industry with no financial regulator overseeing these evaluations, longevity and a verifiable payout history are the closest thing to a guarantee.
The price question
City Traders Imperium opens at $29 against €79 for FTMO, a substantial gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is $449 for City Traders Imperium against €499 for FTMO. The headline fee is rarely the real cost, though: what matters is the price of a reset after a failed attempt, whether the fee comes back on the first payout, and whether an activation fee appears when you move to a funded account. Compare those three lines in the table above before deciding on price alone.
How the loss limit behaves
City Traders Imperium applies a trailing intraday drawdown capped at 6 %. FTMO applies a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with a 3 % daily limit. This is the single most consequential difference between the two. A static drawdown is measured once, from the starting balance, and never moves; a trailing drawdown follows your equity upward, so a winning streak raises the floor you can no longer fall below. Intraday trailing is stricter still, because it tracks unrealised peaks reached inside the session — profit you never actually banked can permanently raise your loss threshold.
Getting paid
City Traders Imperium keeps 100 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 7 days, then pays Mensuel au niveau 1, bi-mensuel au niveau 2, hebdomadaire au niveau 3 ; premier retrait possible apres 7 jours. FTMO keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 14 days, then pays A la demande a partir du 14e jour suivant le premier trade, puis tous les 14 jours. Payout frequency deserves as much attention as the split itself: a slightly lower share paid every two weeks compounds faster than a headline percentage locked behind a monthly cycle and a long first-withdrawal delay.